Purdue Northwest 7, Parkside 5
Parkside 11, Purdue Northwest 3 (F/6)
The Parkside softball team hosted the Purdue Northwest Pride on Wednesday at the Case Softball Complex. The Rangers built a lead early in game one, but a late offense surge would lift the Pride over the Rangers to steal away a win. The Rangers would bounce back and dominate on the offensive end to earn the series split.
 
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HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
 
The Rangers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, with Cassie Rutledge hitting a single and later scoring on an RBI double from Mia Johnson.
 
The Pride responded in the top of the third, using an error and a double to get a run to tie the game at 1-1. The Rangers answered back with Mia Johnson earning another RBI, with a single to right field, bringing home Eden Welling. A single from Alex Wooten scored Tia Livernash and Taylor Delgado, giving the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Johnson hit a home run to left field, earning her third RBI of the contest, and giving the Rangers a 5-1 Lead.
 
The Pride began their climb back into the game in the sixth inning, as a walk with the bases loaded would bring in a run to make it a 5-2 game. In the top of the seventh, A single to right center would score an unearned run to cut the deficit to two runs. With the bases loaded and one out, Allison Arnold connect with a pitch and put it over the center field wall for a grand slam. With that, the Pride would go from trailing by two runs to leading by two runs in just one swing. The Pride would go on to take game one 7-5.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
The Rangers offense wasted no time getting started in the back portion of the doubleheader, with Wooten hitting an RBI single to score Rutledge. Jadynn Powell then blew open the ball game with a three-run home run to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead.
 
The Pride would score a run on an RBI single in the top of the third to cut the Rangers lead to 4-1. Haley Remington would take the run right back in the bottom half of the third, as she sent the first pitch she saw down the left field line for a home run.
 
The Pride tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth, cutting the lead to 5-3. The Rangers once again answered right back in the bottom half of the inning, with Rutledge hitting a two run home run to put the Rangers back up by four runs.
 
The bottom of the sixth belonged to the Rangers offense. The Rangers tacked on two runs on a wild pitch, as both Brenna Konstanty and Tai Gonzales would come in to score. A few pitches later, Delgado would sacrifice herself in a run down to allow Eden Welling to score from third, giving the Rangers a 10-3 lead. With two outs in the inning, Wooten hit a double to deep left center field, bringing home Johnson and enforcing the run rule.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE RANGERS
The Rangers return to action on April 28 as they are set to host the Davenport Panthers for a crucial GLIAC doubleheader. For more information, visit parksiderangers.com.